Late at night.
In an alley.
Under the fists and kicks of several thugs, a slender figure curled up pitifully into a ball. Her voice was hoarse as she tried to resist, but the moment she moved, she was brutally suppressed.
Someone stepped on her shoulder and kicked hard, exposing the girl’s entire face—
Half of it was as beautiful as a fairy, the other half as ugly as a demon, covered in grotesque burn scars.
“Damn, what the hell is that?! Turn her over, don’t let me see that—I’m going to puke!”
“This is really the woman Ninth Master Bai married? With his power and status, he could have anything—why would he choose such an ugly freak?!”
“Who knows! Maybe rich people have weird tastes. Enough nonsense, just kill her and get it over with!”
The thugs were about to strike again.
Suddenly, footsteps came from the entrance of the alley.
A well-dressed man and woman walked in arm in arm, moving toward them intimately.
“Y-Young Master Bai, Miss Yun, why did you come in person? Leave this woman to us—we guarantee she’ll die completely!”
The thugs spoke fawningly.
Yun Manxia struggled to raise her head, her eyes bursting with hatred.
“It’s… you?!”
Yun Yiyi, Bai Chengxuan!
One had once been her closest sister, the other the man she loved most. But now, it wasn’t enough that they had ruined her—they even wanted her dead!
“Why…?”
“Why?” Bai Chengxuan looked down at her coldly. “Ninth Uncle is dead. Without any value left, there’s no reason for you to live.”
Yun Yiyi curled her lips. “Manxia, since you’re about to die, I’ll kindly tell you the truth. We only needed you for Ninth Master Bai’s property. Now that he’s dead and everything is in our hands, of course you can go die…”
Bai Family’s Ninth Master—the most powerful and wealthy man in the empire…
Yet he had fallen deeply in love with Yun Manxia, this wretched woman!
Yun Yiyi’s eyes turned red with jealousy.
Yun Manxia’s mind exploded with a loud buzz.
“Bai Hedu… is dead?”
She asked hoarsely.
“A car accident three days ago. He exchanged his life to save yours. What, no one told you when you woke up?”
Yun Yiyi laughed softly, then waved her hand—
The blows raining down on Yun Manxia became even heavier.
Her consciousness blurred, her face deathly pale.
Bai Hedu…
I’m sorry…
Tears slid down silently. In her daze, a figure appeared in her mind—the man’s cold and powerful gaze seemed to look at her.
That was Bai Hedu, the Ninth Master of the Bai family. Traveling between the Imperial Capital and Yang City, he was the ruler of the empire’s most mysterious ancient family—decisive, ruthless, able to control everything with one hand. And he was also her husband in name.
But… because of her, he had died.
How she wished time could turn back—to before she trusted those two scumbags, before she hurt Bai Hedu!
…
A black sedan drove to a fork in the road. Without warning, the driver, Old Chen, slammed on the brakes, and the girl in the back seat suddenly opened her eyes.
“Third Miss, get out quickly—Young Master Bai is waiting for you over there!”
Yun Manxia was still dazed, but Old Chen’s voice suddenly snapped her awake.
This is…?!
She touched her smooth face—unburned—and widened her eyes in disbelief as she looked around.
Old Chen urged, “Third Miss—”
“…Keep driving!”
Old Chen froze, then said hurriedly, “Ninth Master Bai is so sick he’s about to die. Third Miss, how can you jump into a pit of fire?!”
“I said, keep driving. Go to Yujing Garden!”
Yun Manxia’s voice was hoarse yet firm, trembling slightly.
No one knew how excited she felt at this moment!
She remembered what time this was—this was when Bai Hedu had just moved from the Imperial Capital to Yang City to recuperate for a year due to his health. And she, because of a marriage agreement between her mother and the Bai family, was about to marry him and move into Yujing Garden—her first day!
Thinking of that man, her eyes instantly reddened.
Who could have imagined that the one she had always resisted and avoided was the only person who truly cared about her?
She feared him, fled from him, and even betrayed him—causing the once high and mighty Ninth Master Bai to fall. Yet in the end, he used his own life to protect her…
Yun Manxia suppressed the surge of tears.
In her previous life, it was today that she had been instigated by her stepsister Yun Yiyi to elope with Bai Chengxuan.
Through the rearview mirror, her bloodshot eyes met Old Chen’s.
She knew—Old Chen was Yun Yiyi’s man!
Old Chen was startled and quickly said—
“O-Okay, I understand!”
Her phone vibrated. Yun Manxia picked it up.
【Yiyi: Manxia, don’t worry—go with Young Master Bai. I’ll handle the rest of the trouble for you!】
A trace of hatred flashed through her eyes. Without hesitation, she turned off the phone.
As the car drew closer to Yujing Garden, her emotions became increasingly turbulent.
Twenty minutes later, the car arrived.
Second floor.
A tall man sat in a wheelchair, his deep gaze fixed on the car that had just stopped below.
“Ninth Master, Miss Yun the Third has arrived.”
Beside him, his subordinate Lin Shen spoke.
Bai Hedu lowered his eyes. “What number is this one this month?”
Lin Shen hesitated. “…The fourth.”
This was already the fourth wife their master had married this month since publicly choosing a bride after arriving in Yang City.
Of the previous three—
One died a week after marrying in.
One went insane after two days.
Another didn’t even step into Yujing Garden before crying and threatening to jump off a building rather than marry.
The old madam had been extremely worried and finally remembered a verbal marriage agreement with the Yun family.
But hadn’t Ninth Master already sent word that the agreement didn’t need to be fulfilled? Why had this Third Miss Yun still come?
With their master’s reputation… anyone with the chance would run away, yet she delivered herself to the door—how strange!
“Let’s go. Go down and take a look,” the man said in a low voice.
Downstairs.
Yun Manxia sat on the sofa, her suitcase beside her, waiting nervously.
The indoor elevator opened. Her heart tightened, and she looked over instinctively.
Bai Hedu was pushed out in his wheelchair—he had been injured recently and couldn’t walk.
The man’s features were deep and handsome, his face slightly pale with illness, yet his entire presence carried a heavy, noble aura.
Yun Manxia stood up abruptly, her eyes reddening instantly, overwhelming guilt nearly drowning her.
Bai Hedu’s brows furrowed slightly, his interest fading in an instant.
“Someone, send Miss Yun back!”
Another one forced by her family—he, Bai Hedu, was not so desperate for a woman.
“Wait!” Yun Manxia panicked and hurried forward.
The man turned his head, his gaze unfathomable. “What is it?”
Even unable to stand, his presence remained deep and intimidating.
“I—I’m already married to you. I’m not leaving. I want to stay!”
Yun Manxia said this without the slightest reluctance.
She owed this man far too much. If heaven had given her a chance to return, then perhaps it was to make amends. How could she leave? How would she leave?
Thinking of the truth she learned before her death, her eyes stung.
The surroundings fell silent.
“Stay?” For a moment, Bai Hedu almost thought he had misheard.
All women avoided him like the plague. This was the first one who said she was willing to stay.
There was no reluctance in the girl’s bright, beautiful eyes—only nervousness, unease, and… guilt?
He had to admit, in that instant, something in his heart seemed to be gently stirred.
After a tense silence, he said—